Oregon guard Malik Hairston didn’t make a New Year’s resolution, but since that date nearly one month ago he has fulfilled the wish of Duck fans every Thursday and Saturday.
Hairston has taken over the leadership role, and in turn, the Ducks are winning … somewhat. They have won four Pacific-10 Conference games and can wrap up a winning first half of league play with a victory over USC Saturday.
While just a winning record isn’t what Oregon had planned for prior to the season, it is a far cry from back-to-back losses to in-state “rivals” Portland and Portland State. Actually, those losses could have triggered Hairston – dubbed the ultimate team player by anyone who has watched him on the court – to take command and up his scoring threat to lead the Ducks to victory.
“The number one thing I take pride in is winning,” Hairston said.
That is exactly what has happened when the ball is put in Hairston’s hands and the team defends – the key to not only offense but winning, according to Hairston. Most recently he nailed a three-pointer with four-tenths of a second remaining at Washington State on Jan. 19.
In the month of January, Hairston has upped his play and proven the glamour of landing a top-10 recruit, which the Ducks did when they signed Hairston (No. 7 by rivals.com) on May 12, 2004.
“I think he has brought the NBA into our gym. I think he has brought recruits attention. He’s brought Slam magazine to our program again because he had an article there,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Hairston scored in double figures in the past six games, notably taking over in the second half. Not including the conference opener against Oregon State, the sophomore from Detroit has averaged 71 percent of his scoring in the final 20 minutes during conference games this season.
“In the second half, I think he just sees that we need the points to come from somewhere,” teammate Bryce Taylor said. “He knows that he is more than capable of doing that, so he’s just stepping up and taking the shots and he’s knocking them down.”
Hairston has admitted that he needs to start scoring earlier, which he did Jan. 21 at Washington, when he scored the Ducks’ first nine points of the game. However, once Hairston went cold, so did the Ducks; a four-point lead quickly turned into a double-digit deficit. “We put a lot of weight on his shoulders,” teammate Maarty Leunen said.
Kent believes that the second-half dominance can be attributed to Hairston’s need to get his teammates involved early in games and Hairston’s endurance late in the game.
“I think it’s more of a workman-like mentally – (he) tends to get stronger as the game goes on, more confident as the game goes on. He just reaches a point in time in the second half where I think within himself he feels that he can take over a ball game,” Kent added. “I keep telling him I would hope he would get that a little bit sooner.”
Both Hairston and Taylor were recruited by UCLA, the Ducks’ opponent Thursday night, but Oregon landed the guard duo. The two have drawn comparisons to the Luke and Luke Show (Ridnour and Jackson), which debuted at Oregon in 2000 and guided the Ducks to the Elite Eight in their sophomore season. More importantly, the two current Ducks have pushed each other since day one.
“I think it has helped me a lot just competing with Malik in practice,” Taylor said. “I feel like we have made each other better players up until this point.”
“He’s the leader of our team. He’s pretty vocal and encouraging,” he said. “You know he’s going to be working hard each and every day. He’s just a good guy to have on your team. You’d much rather have him on your team than to play against him.”
Some basketball analysts thought Hairston might skip college and head straight to the NBA in 2004, but Oregon managed to win him over.
“When I came out on my visit, it was very comfortable,” Hairston said. “I liked the guys and I thought this basketball team was a team that maybe was just missing a couple of pieces to have some success.”
And now Oregon is reaping the benefits, especially considering that Hairston tries to avoid phrases like “the next level” and “NBA.”
“I don’t think about the NBA,” he said. “I plan on making some things happen at the college level.”
However, if Hairston continues dominating conference opponents, packing gyms across the west coast and scoring at will, it will be hard not to take the leap to the professional ranks. No matter what happens in the near future, the one thing Hairston is focused on is winning.
“I just want to leave this program as a winning program,” he said. “Whether it is when I’m graduated or if I’m blessed enough to go to the next level and play basketball, I just want to be remembered as a winner on this basketball team.”
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